Break Time

Rapidly growing GoldMine Software Corp. had a problem: The
success of the company's contact management software had bred
its own difficulties. GoldMine's performance had been
stellar--revenues had been doubling every year--but "we were
going through growing pains," says Brenda Christensen, human
resources director for the 70-employee company. "So many
people on staff were newly hired, we started seeing internal
communications problems. Plus, we [were] so busy putting out
day-to-day fires, there was a lack of focus on the big
picture."

So the Pacific Palisades, California, company took a step more
businesses are taking when they face tough problems: "We held
an off-site retreat. Every employee was invited; about 35 of our 50
[people] on staff at the time went," says Christensen, who
adds that attendance was optional for nonmanagement personnel. The
weekend retreat--held on nearby Catalina Island--featured some
leisure time, but "we worked hard on improving communications.
One night, for instance, we all sat on the beach and, one by one,
talked about what we liked about the company, what we didn't
like, and what changes we wanted to see," says Christensen. In
the meantime, management used the retreat to give employees insight
into the company's mission and goals.

Did it work? The privately held company has retained its
position as a leader in the contact management marketplace--and,
what's more, "there's no question that the employees
who went came back recharged. The ones who didn't go felt
they'd missed out," says Christensen. "We're
scheduling another retreat now, and I'm sure we'll get even
higher attendance. Retreats work--for the company and the
employees."

Still, many executives believe retreats are usually a waste of
time, at best a disguised perk. "But retreats can have real
bottom-line payoffs," says Lee Duffey, president and owner of
Duffey Communications Inc., an Atlanta public relations and
marketing firm that offers its clients a retreat program--dubbed
"Ignition"--aimed at recharging marketing programs.
"Retreats got a bad rap because many were done poorly. Who has
time to go out in the woods with co-workers to hold hands and sing
songs? Retreats don't have to be that way. They can be very
focused on business issues, and when they are, companies see the
results back at the office."

Can a small business afford a retreat? While the stereotypical
retreat is held someplace like Hawaii, these days fewer companies
are scheduling that sort of expensive blowout. Cost-consciousness
and effectiveness are today's touchstones, and the upshot is
more businesses are discovering there are many ways to hold down
expenses but still get results, says Curtis Plott, president and
CEO of the American Society for Training & Development in
Alexandria, Virginia. "We just did a retreat ourselves, and we
held it in a local motel," he says. "You don't have
to travel to an exotic location." In fact, adds Plott,
retreats in distant locales aren't even desirable to many
workers nowadays: "We're all short [on] time. Work demands
are high, and we have busy personal lives. Who has time for a
faraway retreat? Suggest it, and many employees will look at you as
though you're crazy."

Another related trend is brevity. A few decades ago, four- and
five-day retreats were commonplace. No more. "Today's
typical retreat is one day," says Dianne Houghton, president
and COO of strategic and communications consulting firm Jaffe
Associates in Washington, DC. "There are still two-day
retreats, too, but you rarely see the four-day retreats that used
to be normal."

Why hold a retreat in the first place? "The main reason is
that when you go off site, you get away from the day-to-day issues
and can get a perspective on bigger issues--the crucial forces
driving the company, its competitors and the marketplace,"
says Houghton. Go away from the office, and immediately, that
silences the phones, halts the interruptions and gives participants
the chance to reflect on big questions--and answers. "A
retreat allows for the sort of thinking that can jump-start a
company's growth," adds Houghton, who herself holds
twice-yearly retreats for her entire staff. "We do it because
we continue to get value. Four years ago we had seven employees;
now we're at 33. And retreats have played a significant role in
our growth."

Planning Ahead

The key to holding a successful retreat is good planning.
"You've got to go into it with a clear understanding of
what you want to accomplish," says Duffey.

"Retreats won't work if they're thrown together.
You need a concrete plan," agrees Plott. "You also need
to know beforehand what you want to get out of the
retreat."

That means, for instance, if you want to focus on marketing
objectives, make sure the retreat agenda sticks to that topic and
includes all the information participants need to know to make
informed decisions. But don't get too ambitious, warns
Houghton. "For any retreat to work, you want to present real
information, but you also need to take into account people's
attention spans," she says. "Some companies undermine
their retreats with poor scheduling. You don't put on a heavy
presentation right after lunch, for instance. People will fall
asleep. Other retreats fail because the agenda is too packed--no
room is left for the discussions that can spark creative ideas. Be
sensitive to concerns like this, plan thoroughly, and you'll
get a lot done at any retreat."

If you invited the right people, that is. "That's
crucial, and who you invite is driven by the retreat's purpose.
Define attendees by who will add value to the session and who the
key players are who will make the aftermath happen," says
Plott.

"A retreat will fail if the right people aren't
involved," agrees Duffey. "You want to involve the people
in the organization who make things happen."

And that has to include the owner, stresses Jody Murphy Smith,
assistant director of the National Leadership Institute at the
University of Maryland's University College in College Park.
"Sometimes we're asked to stage retreats that don't
include senior management," she says. "But we know that
won't work. To be effective, a retreat has to involve the
highest-level managers."

The Right Stuff

Stick to this recipe for a retreat, and you can expect a lot of
good to come from it. But also be realistic: "Retreats
aren't cure-alls. Often when people complain a retreat
didn't work, the problem is with their expectations, not the
retreat. If you haven't gotten a project on track in six
months, a one-day retreat won't change it," says Murphy
Smith.

Put more plainly: If profits are sagging or employees are
bickering, a retreat by itself isn't the magic wand that, waved
once, will wipe away all your woes. Think of it like weight loss:
"Just joining a health club won't cut your waistline; you
need to take specific action steps," Murphy Smith says.
"The same is true for a retreat. It's the start of the
process of change, but its real effectiveness happens afterward,
back at the office."

Exactly how should a retreat carry over into the office?
"Don't leave a retreat without first [setting] specific
goals and action steps to be taken by the individual
participants," says Murphy Smith.

Duffey says much the same about the importance of follow-up:
"After the Ignition program, we go back to the company with a
document that outlines the major goals that were agreed on, the
tactics, and who has responsibility for what, by when. This puts
action items into a concrete time line that makes positive results
both more probable and easy to track."

The bottom line on retreats? "Holding one just to hold one
makes no sense. It never gets results. Nor will you get results if
you don't plan well," says Houghton. "But set a
clear-cut objective, plan accordingly, invite the right
participants, and actions can come out of a retreat that
wouldn't happen anywhere else."

Robert McGarvey writes on business, psychology and management
topics for several national publications.